Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Trio of barnburner events proves that it’s never dark in Las Vegas

Keith Thompson

Courtesy

Keith Thompson conducts the orchestra during “God Lives in Glass” on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015, at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts.

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“God Lives in Glass” performed in 2011.

‘Mondays Dark’ First Anniversary

Performers entertain at the first anniversary of Launch slideshow »

This stretch of VegasVille events started Sunday afternoon, either after church or during the afternoon NFL games, depending on your religious practices.

It began with Keith Thompson in tears onstage at Reynolds Hall in the Smith Center in a most powerful music experience titled “God Lives in Glass.” It was a benefit for the Smith Center’s Educational Outreach programs, and it was, too, a benefit for the soul.

The next night, it was Mark Shunock at his own altar, “Mondays Dark” at Vinyl in the Hard Rock Hotel, the monthly all-star charity show (this one for Home Aid of Southern Nevada) that routinely fills that music hall with about 350 souls.

The night was dedicated to Neil Diamond, meaning a requisite visit by esteemed Diamond tribute artist Rob Garrett and Las Vegas faves such as Skye Dee Miles, Earl Turner, Elisa Fiorillo and cast members from “Rock of Ages” (Troy Burgess), “Million Dollar Quartet” (Rob Lyons and Andrew Frace) and “Raiding the Rock Vault” (Stephanie Calvert).

All these parts fit well for a barnburner show, even the segment “Missed Connection,” where Shunock reads from the Missed Connections online personal ads from Craigslist. Something about an inventive use of a flash drive had the audience roaring.

Finally, the last of this oddly matched events was “Drop the Mic,” which was at once a charity show, stage performance and overstuffed parlor party at the Sayers Club in SLS Las Vegas on Tuesday night.

The lip-sync competition was the brainstorm of Andy Walmsley (with a huge boost from Dayna Roselli of KTNV Channel 13) and served to raise money for Shade Tree’s Noah’s Animal Shelter, which cares for pets of those seeking support at the foundation’s Las Vegas headquarters.

Taken individually, these events were conceived to stand alone. Together, they uniquely reflected the city’s spirit, imagination and thirst for giving back.

Thompson’s “God Lives in Glass” has been nine years in the making. Inspired by the book of the same name written by Robert J. Landy (who has seen five of the dozen stage performances of his material and was seated, smiling the whole way, two seats down on Sunday).

The book is a collection of essays by children depicting their own visions of what or who is God, and Thompson wrote all 17 songs in the score in a three-month burst. If you think writing that much material in that short a time is easy, try it. Even for such a prolific writer as Thompson, it is an astonishing amount of work.

The stage was laden with top performers in Las Vegas. Each face seemed to spark some sort of happy thought. There’s Joe Barbra of “Jersey Boys” with Janien Valentine of the Scintas. Kristen Hertzenberg, long of “Phantom,” back from Houston to take part. Niki Scalera (“Tarzan” on Broadway and many Las Vegas productions, including a run in “Peepshow”).

Jeff Leibow, late of “Jersey Boys” and now of NF Network, up there in the choir. Joan Sobel and Bruce Ewing (both of “Phantom”) with piano great Philip Fortenberry (“Jersey Boys,” and back when, the Liberace Museum).

And what of a kids’ lineup that featured Eliza Belk, whose father, Jim, was a beloved artist and man who led the original “MDQ” band, only to pass from a rare form of leukemia in September 2013. There is still a photo of Jim hanging in the Sun Studios set at that musical, and his and his widow Megan’s daughter is a wonderful talent.

As Thompson turned to face the audience at the end of the show, his face showed a mix of passion and relief. Well more than 100 performers turned out, and the collective feeling afterward was that this concert show could easily tour the country to great response.

A night later, frivolity took hold as “Mondays Dark” performed its final show before its Dec. 14 second anniversary. Shunock deserves credit for effectively tapping into an existing philanthropic spirit to make these shows a treat each month. The night ended with a standing, full-throated rendition of “Sweet Caroline” led by Garrett and many of the performers as the clock slid past midnight.

‘Drop the Mic’ at Sayers Club

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Shaking the emotional and (yes) physical fatigue from those events, we were swept into Walmsley’s latest VegasVille production show and groovy hang, “Drop the Mic.”

What stands out? Good Lord, it’d be easier to note who did not stand out in this show. Nicole Kaplan and Graham Fenton cut loose with a bounding “Jump” by Kris Kross.

Jeff Civillico, whose 5:30 p.m. show at Flamingo Las Vegas is rightfully billed as a great family event, stripped to briefs labeled “Booty Shorts” for “It’s Raining Men.” He wielded an umbrella and tossed confetti all over the stage as the audience went wild, which was its general disposition all night.

Trop magician Jan Rouven took to drag in a Dolly Parton suit (and as Robin Leach and I both noted, probably not for the first time) for “9 to 5.” Brad Garrett rushed the stage, unannounced, during “Time of My Life” starring comic Kathleen Dunbar and Heath Harmison.

Chris Phillips of Zowie Bowie performed a rote impression of his ex-gal and former Z.B. violinist Lydia Ansel, in drag of course, interrupted by Ansel herself just as the number (“The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” requisitely) was becoming uncomfortably long.

What else? My esteemed colleague, friend and fellow judge Robin Leach took host Mike Hammer’s bait for a spin through Pharrell’s “Happy,” after which he called me out — also in an unannounced, but not unexpected, moment. I ran through “Slice of Heaven,” the Melody Sweets number from “Absinthe,” which was convenient as Sweets was a member of the judging panel.

I did take it to pasties at the end (hey, it was for charity). A huge thanks to Kalani Kokonuts for not only lending me these accessories, but also providing a tutorial on how to use them — and making these things spin is not as difficult as it looks.

Walmsley’s approach in these productions is to achieve a genuine Las Vegas vibe through imagination, work ethic and ambition. He yearns to be a major producer on the Strip, not satisfied with winning an Emmy for set design for his work on “American Idol.”

He deserves a trophy for this piece of art, no question. I’ll make that point to him when he finally recovers, as the core of the crew and he hung at SLS until past 6 a.m.

Remarkably, the championship of “Drop the Mic” went to Sin City Theater comic magician Murray Sawchuck and his well-choreographed partner, Doug “Lefty” Leferovich, who upset early favorite (at least on my scorecard) Eric Jordan Young.

Sawchuck and Leferovich nailed “”It’s Tricky” by Run-DMC — and, lest we forget, that 1980s video co-starred a rather boyish-looking Penn & Teller — and, in the finale, “Uptown Funk.”

Sawchuck and Lefty gave thanks to the judging panel, which also included Pia Zadora, Adrian Zmed and Anthony Cools, as he walked off with the trophy. Actually, he held two trophies after leaving the hotel Wednesday morning. One was the “Drop the Mic” prize. The other was a rubber-ized toy you’d find at any adult bookstore — and never at Civillico’s show.

Somehow, a team of comic magicians being recognized in such a way was a fitting end to this run of events. Still, the weekend beckons. All we can ask of VegasVille, today, is: What’s next?

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.

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